I always enjoy strolling Kiawah Island’s beach with Shawn as the day winds down and the sun is setting. Shawn and I generally walk from Shipwatch along the beach until we reach Mariners Watch. Then we turn around. It is fun to watch the families as they pack up their chairs, beach towels, coolers and bags, slowly draw the children away from the waves and start heading back to their villas to prepare for dinner. We talk about the day’s accomplishments, (or as is the case at Kiawah, our lack of accomplishments), we talk about our family, the houses that we see along the way, interactions with our latest guests. And as we walk, Shawn splish-splashes through the waves, which always results in me wearing wet pants. Of course, I have learned (ever since that fateful July 4th, many years ago) to hand over my cell phone to Shawn (they don’t work too well after a dip in the salty water!).
We walk with the wind in our faces, the sun setting behind us. I am always reminded of our Kiawah photographer who has taken so many photos of our family on the beach – he calls the time between 7 PM and 8 PM in the summer, the “Golden Hour”, which is the ideal time to take photos on the beach. And as I walk with Shawn, I too take photos – not of people, at least not most of the time, but of the beach, of the shells on the beach, the birds, and of the incredibly colorful, wide-open and ever-amazing cloudscapes. And if I am lucky, I will spot a rainbow over the ocean, or a small herd of deer on the beach. Of course photography is simply a hobby for me – and capturing that perfect image is illusive, always taunting me to take more. So please enjoy my collection of Kiawah photos. And maybe some evening, as the sun is going down, we’ll stroll past each other on the beach, cameras in hand.
Kiawah Island Vacation Video, 2016
